Oheb Sholom is a

Reform Reform ( lat, reformo) means the improvement or amendment of what is wrong, corrupt, unsatisfactory, etc. The use of the word in this way emerges in the late 18th century and is believed to originate from Christopher Wyvill#The Yorkshire Associati ...

synagogue A synagogue, ', 'house of assembly', or ', "house of prayer"; Yiddish: ''shul'', Ladino: or ' (from synagogue); or ', "community". sometimes referred to as shul, and interchangeably used with the word temple, is a Jewish house of worshi ...

located in Goldsboro,

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

. It is one of fewer than a hundred nineteenth-century synagogues still standing in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, and the second oldest synagogue building in the state.

History

The congregation was founded in February 1883 by 33

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

men who met "for the purpose of building a synagogue" in Goldsboro. The Goldsboro Jewish community already had a

Torah The Torah (; hbo, ''Tōrā'', "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. In that sense, Torah means the s ...

and met for prayers, probably in private homes, in addition to having already formed a Cemetery Association and a Ladies' Hebrew Assistance Society. Since several families had moved to Goldsboro from

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

, the congregation was patterned on the moderate Reform style of Baltimore's Temple Oheb Sholom. Among the leading families were the Weils. Herman Weil had arrived in the United States in 1858, and was soon joined by his brothers, Henry and Solomon. They had become successful businessmen in Goldsboro by the 1870s. Solomon and Henry Weil donated the land for Herman Park, named for Herman Weil, to the City of Goldsboro on July 21, 1890. Lionel Weil, son of Solomon and Sarah Weil, donated 219 acres (89 ha) in 1945 to the State of North Carolina for a nature park, now known as

Cliffs of the Neuse State Park Cliffs of the Neuse State Park is a North Carolina state park in Seven Springs, Wayne County, North Carolina in the United States. It is located near Seven Springs, North Carolina and covers along the southern banks of the Neuse River. It has a ...

Gertrude Weil Gertrude Weil (11 December 1879 – 3 May 1971) was an American social activist involved in a wide range of progressive/leftist and often controversial causes, including women's suffrage, labor reform and civil rights. Biography Early life ...

, daughter of Henry and Mina Weil, was a leader of the

women's suffrage Women's suffrage is the right of women to vote in elections. Beginning in the start of the 18th century, some people sought to change voting laws to allow women to vote. Liberal political parties would go on to grant women the right to vot ...

movement and active in a variety of progressive causes. She founded the North Carolina

League of Women Voters The League of Women Voters (LWV or the League) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan political organization in the United States. Founded in 1920, its ongoing major activities include registering voters, providing voter information, and advocating for vot ...

. The two-story, red brick synagogue was designed by Milton Harding in 1886, and is an example of

Romanesque Revival architecture Romanesque Revival (or Neo-Romanesque) is a style of building employed beginning in the mid-19th century inspired by the 11th- and 12th-century Romanesque architecture. Unlike the historic Romanesque style, Romanesque Revival buildings tended to ...

. It was the second Jewish

house of worship A place of worship is a specially designed structure or space where individuals or a group of people such as a congregation come to perform acts of devotion, veneration, or religious study. A building constructed or used for this purpose is somet ...

in North Carolina.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Oheb Sholom (Goldsboro, North Carolina) Synagogues completed in 1886 Goldsboro, North Carolina Religious organizations established in 1883 Reform synagogues in North Carolina Romanesque Revival synagogues Buildings and structures in Wayne County, North Carolina